I am with you on tubeless with 21,000 km since changing. Running Pirelli Cinturato Evo at $100+ a pop but not too concerned as averaging 8,000 km life with only 2 punctures requiring plugging during that time, the remaining sealing, some without my knowledge until cleaning the bike later
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Just because I can’t take it with me, that doesn’t mean that I will constantly pay through the nose for stuff. When I was riding with my old gang up at Bribie, they were riding on expensive tyres and I was on my $23 cheapies and staying with them and sprinting as fast as the best of them that were 10-20yrs younger. They were coffee shop rides but training rides from my perspective, racing on the other hand was a totally different mind set but I also had a line that I wouldn’t go over. I haven’t had a “new” bike since my last custom made frame ($275) in 1980 and the only “new” set of wheels that I have bought was a set of 30mm CF Road wheels that I paid $600 for and they were reduced from $2399 because there was a new version coming and they wanted to clear the shelves of old stock. 
Just because I’m now retired, my thinking is not going to change, yes I like nice gear but I will buy 2nd hand before I will outlay major $$$$$$$$$$ for any bike gear related things.
I love racing and the buzz that it gives me and I am missing it but I’m not letting go of that dream, I’m hopeful of getting back there once I can get on top of my back issues and no, I don’t want to go down the surgery side because that’s a risk that I’m not willing to take. It may change in the future but don’t hold ya breath waiting for that in the near future. 
Foo
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AliEx mate and Chinertown. 
Still getting good stuff that works at good prices.
Not riding shit tyres or wheels. Life is too short…
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Got onto a Michelin pro5 from bike inn at a good price recently. If it rides well I’ll buy a few.
They test well on BRR; Road Bike Tire Test: Michelin Pro 5 TLR 32
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Yep I gotta say the LBS doesn’t see me in it much.
Those bars were ~$120- a few months back.
Crankset and rings <$450- I think. Can’t remember. Shift great and ride great. Dunno how long the prices will last but way cheaper than in a shop.
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Finally did proper pressure calcs for the roadie since I lost some weight. 23F, 25R on Giant PR2 (internal width… no idea). When fitted they measure at 26mm and 27mm. I had been just filling them to ~ 80psi, but now running 67psi F and 65psi R. Shame that my puncture count went up, not down. Four penetration punctures and a failed stem in the last week.
Tubeless is your answer imo. It was for me anyway. Orange seal and just regular presta valves. Replacement valve cores on the rare occaision one clogs.
Running 30f and 32r on the Reacto. ~33f and 34.5r wam on 25mm int rims. 50psi each end at my current 80ish kg.
My experience has been that Id prefer to take the hit on tubes vs. the occasions I’ve been stuck unable to break the bead. I have no team car to come to the rescue.
The original silca was OK until it went off. I have the new stuff but haven’t tried it yet. Orange Seal was rubbish for me. Partly because most tyres have crap protection these days and slice open.
I have no team car either. Never been unable to break a bicycle tyre bead ever. More trouble seating them. Have needed a compressor for that on occasion with tubeless. Not required if you bang a tube in. Good sealant, which ime Orange seal is, and a plug kit means not having to unseat the bead. Orange seal is the preferred sealant on WW which is how I ended up on it. Multiple using it on there. Stans has worked well for me also.
Your 5 punctures in 264km is more than I’ve had to stop for in 10s of thousands of tubeless ks. 
Glass city around here, most of the fails have been substantial cuts. This has been an odd week, I’ve not had a lot of punctures in recent months. I haven’t tried a plug kit yet, I still run narrow for aero, do they handle 60+psi? This was always the issue with tubeless as well - spraying out the sealant.
PR2 rims are a tight fit with the Bontrager training tyres I prefer, I’ve even been struggling to get non-TLR tyres off this week.
110KM yesterday at 31kph. Speed wins. But the two punctures did not. I’ll swap back to tubeless before Bowral.
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Fair enough. Not too much glass here and low traffic so I avoid it. 
Yeah narrow tyres if you have narrow wheels. No downside going wider wheels and tyres imo. Deep wide carbon wheels have less steering moments in cross winds than the old skinny rims did.